NEWS RELEASE - Schools ask for 'Funds, Glorious Funds'

Warrington school children are setting their own challenge to the Government over fairer funding with a unique take on ‘Food, Glorious Food’.

Youngsters from 11 schools have united to put a new ‘twist’ on the
classic ‘Oliver!’ theme, changing the focus from ‘food’ to ‘funds’.

With lyrics such as ‘Funds,
glorious funds, New paper and pencils!’ and ‘Rich schools have it, boys - long term
protection!’ the song aims to highlight the uncertainty Warrington schools
are feeling over the government’s new National Funding Formula, and the harmful
impact they fear it may have on education.

Children and staff are
hoping the video will grab people’s attention – from the public, to schools, to
the Government - to help raise awareness of the issue and convince politicians
to think again.

The initiative has been spearheaded by head teacher
at Woolston Community Primary School, Craig Burgess, who has been campaigning
for several years to achieve more funds for Warrington schools.

He said: “This is such an important issue, so
we wanted to come up with a creative way of really getting the message out
there. I spoke to some of my colleagues who said schools are currently in a
position where we are having to beg, just like Oliver Twist. That was the
inspiration I needed to write a new version of Food Glorious Food, targeted at
the Government.

“Ten more schools quickly came on board and
recorded their own performance of the song. All of the versions, featuring
hundreds of school children, have been combined to make a powerful,
multi-school video, which we hope expresses our fears in a way that resonates
across the country.

“Schools across Warrington hoped the National
Funding Formula would be the answer to our prayers – but it has, in fact, been
the opposite. We are already the tenth
worst funded education authority in the country, how can we lose more? It just
doesn’t make sense. I’m hopeful that, through this initiative, we can send out
the message that these plans are not meeting the needs of children. Hopefully,
we can play our part in securing a fairer deal for our schools.”

Councillor Jean Carter, Warrington Borough
Council’s executive board member for children’s services, added: “I applaud Woolston
Primary School for starting up this initiative and for all those schools who
have come on board. It’s a fantastic, imaginative way of telling the
Government, in no uncertain terms, what they think about the funding plans.

“The current formula is extremely unfair for
authorities like ours and we would implore the Government – ‘please sir, we
want some more’. It’s great that children are taking action themselves and
uniting to help get this message to the Chancellor.”

Notes to
editors

In 2015 the government
recognised the ‘postcode lottery’ that exists across the country and promised
to introduce a fairer and less complex funding system for schools. The
Department for Education announced in March 2016 a single, national funding
formula intended to ensure that ‘areas with the highest need will attract the
most funding’.

The new funding
formula, set to be introduced from April 2018, will see Warrington’s schools
lose almost a quarter of a million pounds a year and the borough become one of
the worst-funded in the country. Sixty-three of Warrington’s 83 schools
are set to lose money under the plans.

If the proposals go
ahead, only nine of England’s 150 authorities will receive less than
Warrington. Based on current pupil numbers, schools in the best-funded areas
would receive an average of £6,775 per pupil, while those in Warrington would
receive £4,306 – a difference of £2,469 per pupil. Even compared to the
national average, Warrington schools stand to receive £439 less.